Certification of April 9-10 parliamentary elections, Italian Court of Cassation, April 19, 2006 . Excerpt: Il dianzi menzionato provvedimento del 16 marzo 2006 è stato adottato applicando le norme di cui agli artt.14 e segg. D.P.R. 30 marzo 1957 n.361 e successive modifiche e integrazioni, le quali non prevedono tra i requisiti di ammissibilità di [...]

The Israel High Court of Justice has ruled that the Israeli government can continue construction of the security fence it has been building around the city of Jerusalem, rejecting Palestinian requests for injunctions to delay work near several Palestinian villages. The court reasoned that because Palestinians would no longer be restricted in their travel in [...]

The Italian Court of Cassation on Wednesday confirmed that Romano Prodi , former Italian prime minister and head of a center-left coalition, was the winner of the disputed April 9-10 general elections over current Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi . The court certified the results after judges reviewed the validity of more than 5,000 provisional ballots, [...]

Nepal police on Wednesday arrested approximately 250 college professors who were protesting in the town Pokhara against the direct government of King Gyanendra . Organizers set up the demonstration in violation of government-imposed curfew meant to curb pro-democracy rallies . Gyanendra's government has previously announced that anyone violating the curfew would be immediately shot. Gyanendra [...]

The Federal Election Commission on Tuesday announced that mortgage corporation Freddie Mac has agreed to pay a $3.8 million fine to settle accusations that it directly raised campaign funds for members of Congress in violation of federal election laws. Freddie Mac agreed not to contest the charges brought by the FEC, and the FEC has [...]

Leading Tuesday's international brief, following China and Russia's block of an attempt to implement targeted sanctions in the UN sanctions committee on Sudan against four Sudanese officials alleged to have intentionally hindered the peace process in the Darfur region of Sudan, the US has proposed an official Security Council resolution that calls for the same [...]

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Wednesday that there has been a sharp decline in the number of asylum seekers globally and warned that asylum seekers worldwide face increasing threats as they are "portrayed not as refugees fleeing persecution and entitled to sanctuary, but rather as illegal migrants, potential [...]

American businessman Philip H. Bloom pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of conspiracy, bribery and money laundering in a corruption scandal that continues to expand as investigators find "more cases of a similar vein in the pipeline." In his guilty plea, Bloom, who was charged last year, admitted providing Robert J. Stein , a former US [...]

Raouf Abdel-Rahman , the chief judge in the Saddam Hussein trial , read out a report by prosecution experts as the trial resumed Wednesday that authenticated the former leader's signature on several more documents submitted into evidence . Reading from the report, Rahman said "The writing and signatures … that are related to Saddam Hussein [...]

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments in United States v. Gonzalez-Lopez , where the court will decide whether a defendant is guaranteed a new trial under the Sixth Amendment right to counsel if a trial court improperly denies a person their choice of counsel. In the case, Gonzalez-Lopez wanted to bring in [...]